Iguana hunter writes iguana meat cookbook

A Sarasota man says iguanas are destroying Florida's native wildlife. So he's come up with a solution - kill them and cook them!

Wednesday, July 29th 2009, 6:15 PM EDT

Updated:

Wednesday, July 29th 2009, 7:53 PM EDT

SARASOTA: A Sarasota man says iguanas are destroying Florida's native wildlife. So he's come up with a solution - kill them and cook them!

George Cera has an eye for the exotic. Using a pellet gun Wednesday, he took out two iguanas within minutes of stepping into a yard on Siesta Key.

But he didn't do it with a smile. He says he get satisfaction knowing that he's removing an exotic species.

"This is sad. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it," said Cera. "People had them as pets back in the 70s," Cera explained.

But through the years, they've been released to the wild and many Florida communities are now living with the consequences.

In 2007, Cera was hired by homeowners on Boca Grande in Lee County. In less than two years, he took out 16,000 iguanas.

The male spiny-tailed black iguanas stretch up to 50 inches. The females reproduce quickly and can lay 50 eggs a year.

The reptiles have few predators in Florida and Cera said he's seen them kill native, and often endangered, animals like loggerhead sea turtles and juvenile gopher tortoises.

"There were no gopher tortoises that were under 10 years old, literally an entire generation that was wiped out," Cera said, remembering his time on Boca Grande.

This year, Cera decided to put his thoughts on paper. The Sarasota man has published a book called "Save Florida: Eat an Iguana - The Iguana Cookbook."

His philosophy is that if you're going to take something's life, you should eat it.

Iguanas are native to Central and South America where eating iguana is common.

While cutting the meat, Cera said, "It's pretty much the same as alligator, you know? There's meat all the way through it. My main concern is not so much that people eat iguanas but that they are aware of the impact they're having and that we need to do more."

Wednesday, Cera invited us to his house where he served lunch - iguana tacos. And yes, the recipe is in the book. [Click here for the recipe]

The hunting and killing of iguanas is not something Cera enjoys. He says he looks forward to a time when they're a rare delicacy in Florida.